dSPACE Upgrades DS1103 PPC Controller Board with New Components

8/23/2004 - To speed up rapid control prototyping, dSPACE is now equipping its DS1103 PPC Controller Board with new components. The board has a new 933 MHz PowerPC processor, making it up to 8 times as fast as its predecessor, depending on the application. This means that a PID control loop, including input and output of A/D and D/A channels, can be executed at a sampling rate of 300 kHz . The F14 model in MATLAB®/Simulink® has an execution time of 1.2 µs.

The DS1103 provides a wide selection of I/O interfaces, including 36 A/D channels, 8 D/A channels, and 50 bit-I/O channels. There are also connection options for up to seven incremental encoders, outputs for 3-phase PWM, and CAN and serial interfaces. The board’s versatility makes it a genuine all-rounder in the field of rapid control prototyping. Moreover, the DS1103 saves time and money in the development process, for example, in drives, robotics, and automotives.

Easy Handling
The DS1103 PPC Controller Board can be programmed completely from the block diagram environment of Simulink. dSPACE’s Real-Time Interface allows you to implement Simulink models on the board automatically and without programming knowledge. New controller functions can be tested and optimized directly on the board.

Faster Prototyping
As the number of sensors and actuators used increases, so does the number of I/O signals to process. Combined with more intelligent algorithms, this makes function models a lot more complex. This in turn requires more processing power, as otherwise it would not be possible to transfer the values and variables of the controlled system with sufficient speed. Application memory has been increased to 32 MB, allowing large applications to be run.

The resolution of the 12-bit A/D and 14-bit D/A converters has been raised to 16 bits, with the same conversion time. The fast new 16-bit A/D converter cuts the conversion time for the 16-bit channels from 4 µs to 1 µs. An additional new function allows up to 20 A/D channels to be converted and read in under 8 µs. Controlling electrical drives, for example, requires real-time acquisition and output of I/O values. The A/D and D/A channels, and the positions of the incremental encoder channels, can therefore now be synchronized to a PWM signal or an external trigger signal.